Alexis left the courtroom in a much better mood than when she'd gone in. Her day was ending much better than it had started. As she was walked towards her car, she reached for her cell phone and made a call home to checking in with Viola.

"Molly's sleeping?" Alexis smiled as she pictured her baby girl. "Well, that's okay if it's little early, but let my little funny-face sleep. No, I won't mind if she wakes up a little later in the night, that's all right. Her mother the workaholic will probably still be awake and there's nothing like one of my favorite warm cuddly bundles of sweetness to take my mind off of things." Alexis said, feeling the smile that spread across her face. Molly was such a good baby, even if she did wake up later, all she'd want is maybe a bottle, some cooing and cuddling and then she'd be right as rain.

Viola went on to tell her about Ric; he'd called in and said he'd be a bit late. She shrugged mentally. Nothing new there; sometimes Ric seemed to being playing one-up games with her. Whatever case she found herself working on, Ric made a point of working on something, bigger, harder, longer hours, whatever.

She told Viola that she'd be home as soon as she dropped off her case files back at her office and did a little consulting and scheduling for next week and then did exactly that. Pulling out of her parking space, she rolled the window down and turned on the radio, punching the radio dials until she found something with a driving beat. The late afternoon sun beat down on her and all of a sudden, Alexis found herself feeling…happy. She let out a laugh, surprising herself.

Today had been a good day, she decided. She felt a weight lift itself off of her as if for once, the weight of her world didn't rest entirely on her shoulders. All was right in the Cassadine universe, a young man was possibly on his way to a better life, Ric had been firmly put in his place and if she were going to be honest, her one-upmanship of Durant was icing on the cake. She wondered what kinds of dire and dreadful punishment he'd been thinking up since she left and laughed again, this time at herself as she wondered what made that thought pop into her head.

Feeling good, she followed an impulse and decided against driving onto the highway that would get her home faster – she was going to take the more scenic route instead. So Alexis drove slowly through the city streets. This long way took her through residential areas and past schoolyards and playgrounds, lined with copses of trees and shrubbery and Alexis smiled again as she breathed in the fresh greenery and heard the shouts and laughter of young voices. She had never thought to be a parent in this life, yet and here she was, a mother to two darling, precious daughters.

As she passed one of the riverside parks, a gleaming dark luxury sedan out of place from the normal lines of mini-vans and SUVs caught her eye. On second look, it looked like one of…. Yes, it was definitely one of Sonny's cars. Just then she remembered that Sonny had had a scheduled play date with Kristina this afternoon. Another impulse sent her driving into the parking lot and pulling up into the space next to his.

Several bodyguards were moving towards her as she stepped from the car, no doubt to warn her off from parking there, but they stopped as the man in the lead held up a hand.

"Hello Max." She said to Sonny's chief bodyguard. He did an almost comical visible double take at her friendly greeting, so unlike her normally cool politeness. "Which way is my daughter and her father?"

He gestured down a meandering path towards one of the smaller baseball diamonds. Alexis walked down the well-worn path, enjoying the soft afternoon air as she walked along the dirt path. The path meandered into the grass and then just ahead of her, she could see the three of them, Michael, Kristina and Morgan. It seemed that Michael was trying to teach the two younger ones how to hit a ball. She stopped to watch them, pleasantly surprised at the patience he was showing as he lined up the ball on the T-ball mount and guided their little hands around the bat. He wasn't short-tempered with them and was amazingly gentle.

Her gaze was drawn to the solitary pair of figures sitting on the bleachers watching them. Well, she thought it was a pair, as Alexis drew near, Alexis saw that it was Sonny and a rabbit. A very large stuffed rabbit. A small smile curved her lips, but she managed to squelch most of it as she drew near.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." She said. "Especially if you're going to be keeping company with giant rabbits."

Sonny turned his head, his eyes guarded for just a moment, but they softened as he looked into her softly smiling face. "Well, the rabbit does have its advantages."

Alexis walked around to face him. "And those would be?"

"He's a good listener." Sonny paused for a moment, and when he spoke again it was with a deeper meaning that was clearly meant to be understood. "I've missed having a really good listener around."

"Really? Were there any other benefits?"

"I don't know. We've only just met; Max bought him for Kristina. I am finding that despite the good listening skills – he isn't big on conversation. You know – no witty comebacks." Sonny raised his eyes to Alexis'. "I miss those too."

Well, I didn't know what to say to that. Neither did Alexis, so we just stood there with a suddenly foolish grin spreading across our face

Sonny grinned a little grin of his own that sent a little certain something right through her. "At least sometimes I do."

"Sometimes?"

"Sometimes I miss it – sometimes, not so much."

"And why is that?"

"Sometimes it's hard to hear…things."

"Things?"

Sonny turned back to watch the children. Some other kids had joined them, what seemed to be at least two sets of big brothers and sisters and their younger siblings. Michael was very obviously in charge, directing everyone to places on the field. As they watched, Morgan had hit a ball and was toddling rapidly for first base, while Kristina was scampering after the ball. Michael was shouting encouragement to the both of them.

"They are all growing up so fast." Sonny said quietly. It was a deliberate changing of the subject. Obviously whatever Sonny had been open to expressing had gone away. "Little boys are all rough and tumble, but Kristina…well, having a little girl...it's something special for a father. Time has passed so fast since I found out about her being my daughter. Sometimes, I just can't get enough of seeing her."

I felt a wave of guilt sweep through me; Sonny had missed so much...her first smile, her first tooth, her first steps…and it had been me, not Alexis, that had taken them from him. I see we're going to have to eat some serious crow here. But hey, I was more than willing to take one for the team, as it were.

"Sonny, why didn't you mention that you would be seeing Kristina again this afternoon?"

Sonny shrugged and didn't answer. His gaze met mine for just a moment, and then flicked away, back to the kids. But that momentary glance had been enough and Alexis guessed why.

"Was it because you thought I'd be a stickler to the appointed visitation schedule and object to a second visit in one day?"

A long moment of silence stretched between us a moment that spoke volumes as to how far apart the two of them had grown. "It occurred to me that that might be a possibility. The letter of the law and all that stuff."

And it was all my fault that things were the way they were… that Sonny had to think about me and the law and how I would use it against him. Me, the one who used to used to wield the law so intently on his behalf. How far we had come in the space of just a few years, we, who had been so close, were now at the point to where we had to think about my legal objections to his spending time with our daughter.

Alexis sat on the bench beside him. "Sonny." She said as she turned to face him on the bench. She hesitated; what she had to say wasn't easy and she was sure she could find the words. But suddenly, it was important that she try. "I know I've apologized for keeping Kristina's paternity a secret from you…."

As soon as Sonny realized where my words were going, I saw a glimpse of that old hurt. And it hurt me as well; it hurt a lot to realize just how much pain I'd done to Sonny. And to see it in his eyes all over again only broke my heart all over again as well.

"You don't have to do this, Alexis."

"I feel like I do. I need for you to understand where I was coming from. It wasn't as cut and dried a decision like you might think." Alexis reached out and touched his hand. "Let me do this…please."

He didn't pull his hand away. That was a good sign.

"I represented a young man who reminded me of Zander today." Alexis began. She had started out by looking at Sonny, looking in his eyes but suddenly couldn't. It was easier to let her gaze fall down to where her hand covered his.

"It's funny; it was my overhearing you telling Jason to go after him that set a lot of things in motion. Hearing you give the order that would hurt Zander scared me Sonny – no, terrified me. I mean, I knew what you were capable of, I never fooled myself about that, but this was – personal. Zander was someone we both knew…someone that we had both cared about and there you were…giving orders to hurt him. And for the first time I …I was afraid of you."

Alexis paused and tried to swallow as those old feelings crept in and filled her heart and threatened to choke her throat with remembered sorrow.

"He betrayed me, Alexis." Sonny said.

There had been enough betrayal all around to last them all a lifetime, Alexis thought involuntarily. That errant thought tightened her throat and it took a moment before Alexis managed to find her voice again. "I know that. I know you could have had him killed, but you didn't – in your own way, you were showing mercy. I know that now… but all I could think about was the world that you lived in, where choices that involved life and death had to be made."

She raised eyes to him that were glistening with unshed tears. "I made the choice to live in that life. It was my life and my choice and I never regretted it – not ever…but how could I bring a child into it? My…my mother had done that; she'd made a choice to bring her children into a dangerous life.

"For years, Helena taunted me with the fact that she'd warned my mother to stay away from her husband. But Mikkos had told her that he would protect her… and us, Kristina and I. But he couldn't. And my mother died, and my sister was lost…" For a moment she choked and couldn't go on.

Sonny watched as Alexis bowed her head and her eyes squeezed shut. He could see the tears she fought to hold back glistening on the tips of her eyelashes and felt her tremble as she willed herself not to cry. He had no words for her, only a familiar numbing sense of loss as he re-lived a part of the pain that had driven them apart. And this time, just like the first time, there was a part of him that wanted to reach out and brush it away, wanted to wave his hand like a magic wand somehow and make the pain disappear for the two of them. But he hadn't had a magic wand then or now.

But the darker side of him, the part of him that loved to wallow in his own pain and relished his the ache at her betrayal held him back. And with a rare flash of inner perception, Sonny realized that a perverse part of him relished her pain; even as it fed his own.

A moment later, he was instantly ashamed of the thought.

"I realized that I didn't have the right to make that choice for another life – only my own." Alexis said as she raised her eyes back to him. Her free hand came up to wipe at her eyes. "Was it right or wrong? I don't know. But at that time, it was the only choice I thought I could make. Can you understand that?"

Sonny watched her master her pain and a thrill of admiration went through him, in spite of his own hurt. And the truth was, he could understand it. He had no choice. Alexis' greatest fear – that Sonny's life would impact their child's – had come true. Kristina had been kidnapped – right out of his house. It had been his life that had endangered hers. The fact that Alexis had tried to prevent that from ever happening…What argument could he possibly make to Alexis about how wrong she had been after what had happened?

"There's more, Sonny. I want you to know it all. I didn't sit back and scheme and decide to come up with a plan to keep my pregnancy from you. I was terrified to tell you, but that day...that day you came to me and asked me point blank if you were the father of my child…"

"Ned came out and said he was…"

"I was as shocked as you were. Ned came up with that all on his own."

"You and he didn't plan that?" The world rocked beneath him.

"No." Alexis said. "After you left, I was so furious with him for interfering that I slapped him across his face. But then I let the lie play itself out."

"But why?" Sonny asked. "Why didn't you ever tell me? Why did you let that lie…"

"….Destroy everything between us? I….I don't know…that's the truth. I've asked myself that question a million times. Maybe if I had said something that very moment, everything would have been different. But the fact remains…I didn't, and after that, everything just spiraled out of control…after Kristina died, there was no going back for either of us. I thought you hated me…and then when you threatened to break me…I knew it."

"I didn't…" Sonny said in a low whisper. "I would have never hurt you…Never."

"I didn't know that then… I didn't know you anymore…I - I won't lie to you – I believed then, in that moment, that you would do anything in your power to destroy me."

What was going on here? This wasn't me anymore, I realized. This was the pain that I had tried to protect Alexis from. Sonny had pushed and instinctively Alexis had pushed back – it had been almost instinctive for her to act to protect herself and had armored her heart in the process.

"I'm sorry." They both spoke at once.

There was so much meaning in those two little words. Their eyes met and held and suddenly, without knowing quite how it had happened, Sonny's hand moved until he was holding hers.

There was a moment of silence between them; one where they didn't let go of each other's hands, but sat in silence, both of them remembering. Remembering too much maybe. Remembering all the times they'd sat in a comfortable silence, not needing any words, remembering so many silences filled with feelings, feelings and thoughts that hadn't needed to be put into words.

Maybe he was remembering too much, Sonny thought. He didn't even know why he was thinking this way. Just because Alexis had found it in herself to speak more than two civil words to him gave him no reason to suppose at anything else. That thought spurred him to break the silence and even attempt a little joke to make nothing of his feelings. He was feeling nothing, he told himself. Nothing.

"Hey, we're having a conversation. Two in one day, as a matter of fact; that's got to count for something."

Alexis smiled at him. "I guess it does." She looked over to the three children still playing on the baseball diamond, and then glanced at her watch. "I guess I'd be getting Kristina home. It's almost dinner time."

Disappointed without quite knowing why, Sonny reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. Time's up." He stood and called to the kids.

The three of them looked up at the sound of his voice and a moment later, came running our way. It was sweet, in its own way; Michael was in the middle, with Morgan holding one hand and Kristina the other. For a brief moment, I felt Alexis allow herself one brief second of a fantasy; that the children were running to the two of them, and they would all head home together, for dinner and bath times and bedtime stories and everything else that came with it.

It wasn't a bad fantasy. Neither was it foolish, I silently promised her.

We held onto it for a few moments more, as we all walked back to the parking lot. Michael and Morgan ran ahead of them up the path; Sonny held the stuffed rabbit in one arm while Kristina insisted on skipping between us, one hand in each of ours.

Yes, it was certainly a nice little family tableau.

When Alexis and Sonny, along with Kristina, reached the parking lot, Michael and Morgan were already climbing into the back of Sonny's car. They turned and yelled cheerful goodbyes to Kristina before disappearing inside.

"I'd better get them home to their mother." Sonny said to Alexis. He knelt down to face his daughter. "Do you know how special today was to me?" he said to her with a smile.

A blind fool couldn't have missed the tenderness and adoration that filled his voice. Alexis' heart thumped strongly as she saw Sonny's dimples echoed in his daughter's diminutive face. "I got to spend time with my favorite girl." Sonny told her.

Kristina grinned a bright little grin that melted both of their hearts; impulsively she flung her arms around Sonny's neck and hugged him. Sonny hugged her back just as tight.

"Is mommy one of your fav'ite girls, too?" Kristina asked. She looked from Sonny to Alexis and back again.

Lost for words, all Sonny and Alexis could do is smile at one another, smiles that were pasted in place solely for Kristina's face. Inside, their insides were churning in confusion; the past and the present were crashing into one another, and all of it was born again in the smile of an innocent little girl.

"Honey, did you thank Max for the present?" Alexis said as she finally managed to find her voice. Kristina's face lit up at the suggestion; hugged Sonny one more time and then flew across the small space separating their two cars to go chatter excitedly to Max.

"I'm sorry Kristina put you in such an awkward position." Alexis said. "She doesn't really understand the situation…"

"Of course she doesn't…" Sonny interrupted her, his voice oddly rough. "What little girl doesn't imagine that her daddy would find her mommy as one of his favorite girls? It's natural."

"But we aren't natural, are we, Sonny?"

"We never were – were we?"

Alexis couldn't tell how he meant that.

From the look on his face, maybe Sonny wasn't quite sure how he meant it either.